Gambling with the Past
by MegaKiraraLover
Summary: ONESHOT. Luxord "wakes up" one night to find he's no longer in The Castle That Never Was, but instead a world of flowers and white facing an oddly-familiar, smiling brunette. When she challenges him to a card game, of course he can't refuse. no pairings


Gambling with the Past:

A Kingdom Hearts Oneshot

Summary: ONESHOT. Luxord "wakes up" one night to find he's no longer in The Castle That Never Was, but instead in a world of flowers and white facing an oddly-familiar, smiling brunette. When she challenges him to a card game, of course he can't refuse, but as time wears on, things become just a bit too familiar for his liking... Pairings: NONE

Notes: Slightly a crossover with FFVII. You don't need to play that to understand this, however; all will be explained to some degree. And perhaps the story will be more fun if some things remain a mystery. ^.^ ...or at least that was the original message. Once I brought you-know-who in after Luxord's bit, it kinda turned into a FFVII crossover. You can read the first part and ignore the second, if you want, but beyond that...um...I think anyone who hasn't played FFVII would be confused. But feel free to read it anyway, loyal readers! Now awaaaaaaay!!! X3 (Btw, I don't own FFVII. Take THAT, disclaimer clause! Hehe. :D)

Warnings: Very mild language, gambling themes, and spoilers if you squint. Warnings are not set in stone should this story ever continue, but since it's planned as a oneshot, that's very doubtful.

First Posted: 3-9-09

~Gambling with the Past~

Luxord was by now used to odd things going on in his non-life. From people walking on the ceiling to things spontaneously combusting, The Castle That Never Was was never an uneventful place. However, sometimes, he longed for things that seemed even odder–a whole organization of his own to run and protecting a city he could not quite remember, a simple blue suit with yellow trim and the familiar comfort of a talking cat with an odd Scottish accent sitting next to him or in his lap...yes, all of these and more had plagued his thoughts at some time or another.

But one thing Luxord never thought would happen was waking up in an upright position in a mysterious field of brightly-colored flowers, surrounded by bright whiteness that hurt his eyes to look at.

"...the bloody hell...?" he muttered, blinking in mild confusion and folding his arms over his chest. He was unfamiliar with this area, but despite how he was nearly blind because of the white surrounding him and the fact that he should _probably_ be bothered by the fact that he was alone in an unfamiliar world, he felt oddly at ease, as though someone was watching over him.

A soft, chiming giggle-laugh broke Luxord's chain of thought and he paused, eyes narrowing as he turned to stare in mild confusion at the gently smiling woman (or perhaps teenager; she did look a bit on the younger side) standing behind him. She was shorter than him by a head, with long, chocolate-brown hair pulled back into a high braid by a pink ribbon, a bright pink dress with white ruffles, brown cowgirl-boots, and the most beautiful and unnatural green eyes she had ever seen.

"Hello, Luxord," the woman greeted him quietly, nodding as she clasped her hands in front of her. She seemed completely at ease in the environment, staring at Luxord with a sort of mothering look that was oddly...familiar–and comforting as well.

"Hullo?" he responded in a funny voice, unsure if he should introduce himself to someone he apparently already knew or demand to know where she had gotten his name. He was fairly sure he had never seen her before, but something about her suggested he had at the same time, and now his head was starting to hurt. Stop thinking, Luxord–you might injure yourself.

Again, the woman giggle-laughed, smile widening a bit. She raised her hands so that they were in front of her chest, her fingers spread apart and held against their counterparts on her other hand with just the tips. "Ah, you're confused." Luxord merely nodded, not bothering to answer aloud as the woman nodded politely. "My name is Aerith. It's nice to meet you."

Okay, now Luxord knew what to do. He smiled and bowed a fraction, reaching out and gently taking Aerith's hand to kiss it gently. "Ah, you too, love." He pulled back as she giggle-laughed and clasped her hands behind her back. "Now, perhaps you could explain to me where we are, precisely?"

"Oh, we're in the Lifestream," she explained with a shrug. Luxord blinked, mildly confused, but Aerith merely smiled enigmatically. "I don't expect you to remember, of course. You were still your Somebody the last time you were here."

At this, Luxord's body abruptly tensed, every muscle high-wired and a thousand thoughts racing through his head. His concern must have shown on his face, since Aerith gave him a reassuring smile.

"Not to worry, Luxord–I don't expect you to act like your Somebody, or even think about him tonight. I just called on you because I wanted to know..." Slowly she raised her hand and, slowly, multi-colored flower petals whirled around it, forming a...pack of cards? "...if you wanted to play a few games with me."

Luxord's first thought was to decline immediately, find a way back to TWTNW, and forget about this Aerith woman who apparently knew his Somebody. However, his gambler instincts won out, and he ended up putting on a smile and politely accepting her offer to play.

The bright, excited look on her face was more than enough reward for his decision.

So the two played for hours, neither really keeping track of who won or who lost, but rather gauging their games through each other's reactions. They played Go Fish and Omaha; War and Texas Hold 'Em. They played Old Maid and Blackjack; BS and Seven-Card Stud. And, while playing these games, Luxord felt oddly at-ease with a sense of intense deja-vu, as if he had done all of this before.

"...hey, do you know how to predict the future?" Aerith suddenly asked after quite a while had passed. Luxord paused mid-dealing for Seven-Card Stud, not bothering to look up as Aerith continued. "I once knew someone who could...and he was really accurate. Predicted quite a few things he honestly shouldn't have been able to."

Luxord glanced up, wondering who Aerith was refering to, but she was too busy staring over his shoulder with a far-off look to her eye. He shrugged absently and slowly took back the cards, resorting to shuffling them and doing odd tricks while doing so. His fingers moved deftly, twirling a few cards and flicking them up into the air only to catch them at just the right moment with expert precision and making a few others disappear and then reappear at the top of the deck for his own amusement...anything to bring his mind away from the fuzzy picture of black and white and red and gold that appeared as Aerith said these words.

"I am a master of time," was the slow, thoughtful response from Luxord as he picked up the next two cards to see what they held. He nearly smirked at the irony–Dead Man's Hand. "I can see a few things, if I focus long enough, but I believe that tends to ruin the game of Life, don't you?"

Aerith merely seemed amused by his response and nodded, signaling for him to start dealing again. As he did, she added, "That's what you said last time I asked, too." Again, Luxord paused without looking up, carefully hiding the memory of "fear" that was creeping up on him. Aerith either didn't notice or didn't care as she went on. "But I still wonder..."

Slowly, Luxord raised his head to stare at her face, watching with "concern" as the image of sadness and pain washed across her beautiful eyes. "I still wonder," Aerith went on quietly as Darkness began to creep up on their little world, "if the reason why you said that was because you knew in the back of your mind what would happen to me...or what would happen to _you_."

Suddenly, Luxord was shooting up ramrod straight in his bed in TWTNW, a name on his lips that he had only recently learned as he was filled with regret, grief, and mild guilt.

And for the first time since he had become part of the Organization, Luxord actually believed it was real.

Luxord never had that dream again.

~GoF~

Less than two years later, the official announcement came out:

The infamous Organization XIII was completely destroyed.

Of course, this mattered little to Reeve Dolur Tuesti, leader of the infamous World Regenesis Organization and long ago (nearly five years before the destruction of Radiant Garden) a highly-paid ass kisser for Ansem "Ansem the Wise" ShinRa. He was just happy to be back in his position with his friends by his side.

Said friends had been really worried about him, actually. He gathered through scattered and clearly uncomfortable conversations that he mysteriously disappeared on the transit between Radiant Garden and Traverse Town that many of the other citizens had made safely, and ended up missing for nearly seven years before mysteriously re-appearing less than a week after the fall of the Organization.

Reeve had, of course, been welcomed with lots of hugs and many opened arms. Everyone he had known before the Fall was there to greet him at some point or another, not to mention tell fantastic stories of what had happened, including his personal robotic comanion, Cait Sith. Cait, a black-and-white bipedal cat with pointed brown shoes, a long red cape, white gloves, and a lopsided gold crown had been more than pleased to see his creator again, and visa versa. Needless to say that the reunion was emotional in a father-son sort of way.

And oddly creepy, but if Reeve wanted his best friend to be a talking catbot with a Scottish accent, who are we to judge?

So Reeve was back in Radiant Garden happy and well and mostly unchanged. Mostly. More than once, Yuffie had caught him using an odd accent he had never heard before and made fun of him for it. He was also suddenly facinated with cards and dice and honestly anything related to gambling–not that he wasn't in the first place (Cait Sith had originally been a fortune telling machine stationed inside of a casino of sorts, after all)–and often he could be seen fiddling with an Ace of Hearts while staring off into space for a long period of time.

To Reeve and his friends, this information was irrelivent and they chalked it up to Reeve merely getting over the shock of his disappearence and sudden re-appearence.

However, one change was definitely for the better: Sometimes, when no one else was around, Reeve closed his eyes and saw a field of flowers with white surrounding it, and a long-dead friend asking him if he wanted to play a game...

And Reeve Dolur Tuesti always, _always_ accepted.


End file.
